


Someone who Understands

by ArendelleKnight



Category: Frozen (2013), Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 20:31:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3868834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArendelleKnight/pseuds/ArendelleKnight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Elsa's powers were revealed at her coronation she thought everyone would see her as a monster, but her sister wasn't about to give up on her, and a certain princess from Misthaven knew exactly what the new queen of Arendelle was going through.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Someone who Understands

**Author's Note:**

> I know that in the OUaT canon David and Snow didn't meet for at least 2 years after Elsa's coronation, but I wanted to have them and Emma attend the coronation, so I tweaked the timeline just a bit... or a lot. This story is set in an alternate timeline where the dark curse never happened and Emma grew up in Misthaven as Princess Emma.

Kai bowed before Queen Elsa, gesturing to the latest in a procession of nobles come to congratulate her on her coronation. "Your Majesty, King David, Queen Snow, and Princess Emma of Misthaven."

Elsa inclined her head towards them. "Your Majesties, Your Highness. I hope your stay in Arendelle has been pleasant so far."

"It has, Majesty," David replied. "We've visited Arendelle before, but we've never been inside the castle."

Elsa nodded and smiled politely, changing the subject. "I apologize for my sister's absence. I haven't seen her for a few hours."

"We met Princess Anna briefly before the coronation. She was in the company of a young prince from the Southern Isles."

Elsa was just about to excuse herself so she could ask one of the castle guards to locate Anna when she saw the redheaded princess pushing her way through the crowd towards her, pulling said prince of the Southern Isles behind her. David bowed. "Queen Elsa, it was a pleasure meeting you." Elsa bowed politely, turning her attention to her sister as David, Snow, and Emma returned to the party.

The three were talking to the Princess of Corona and her husband when every eye in the room was drawn to the scene playing out between the queen and the princess.

"Give me my glove!" Elsa shouted in panic.

Anna pulled back, still holding the glove, looking at her sister pleadingly. "Elsa, please, please, I can't live like this anymore."

"Then leave."

Elsa started to walk towards the door as Anna called after her. "What did I ever do to you?"

"Enough, Anna."

"No, why? Why do you shut me out? Why do you shut the world out? What are you so afraid of?"

"I said enough!" Elsa whirled on Anna, waving her hand before her, summoning a wall of jagged ice spikes, separating her from the stunned crowd.

The Duke of Weselton broke the silence. "Sorcery. I knew there was something dubious going on here."

Elsa ran as both Anna and the Duke of Weselton went looking for another way out of the castle. Before her parents could say anything Emma was running towards the wall of ice spikes. She held out her hand before her, summoning her own light magic and melting a gap in the wall large enough for her to run through.

* * *

Emma ran out the front door of the castle with her parents close behind her. Just minutes before it had been a beautiful Summer day, now snow was falling from the sky. The Duke of Weselton, flanked by his two body guards, looked up at the sky with evident fear.

"It's snowing! It's snowing! The Queen has cursed this land! She must be stopped! You have to go after her!"

"Wait, no!" Anna had overheard the Duke and was approaching with Hans close behind.

When the Duke saw the young princess he recoiled in fear, trying to look as intimidating as is possible while cowering behind his men. He addressed Anna with suspicion. "You! Is there sorcery in you too? Are you a monster too?"

Deciding he'd seen enough, David pushed his way through the crowd, followed closely by his wife and daughter. He towered over the tiny Duke, addressing him with anger. "It seems you forget your place, Duke! You are a guest in Arendelle!"

"How dare... who do you think you are?"

"Just a guest, same as you, the difference is I didn't come to Arendelle and order my guards to hunt the queen down like some common criminal! I don't know what it's like in Weaseltown, but I don't think treason is looked upon kindly here."

The Duke sputtered out something incomprehensible and hurried away while a nearby castle guard approached, turning to Anna. "Your Highness, is everything alright?"

Anna stood in stunned silence for a moment before responding. "No, everything's not alright. I believe the Duke of Weaseltown intends to harm my sister. I need you to keep a close watch on him and his men while I'm away."

The guard bowed. "Yes, Your Highness."

When the guard had left, Anna turned to David and smiled gratefully. "Thank you, King David. If you'll excuse me I have to go find my sister."

"Wait," Snow said, "you're not going up the North Mountain alone in this storm?"

"This whole thing is my fault," Anna replied. "I'm the one who pushed her, so I have to make it right."

"But you don't have to do it alone," Emma said. "I can help."

"Emma, are you sure about this?" Snow asked. She pulled her daughter aside, speaking in a whisper so Anna couldn't hear. "Queen Elsa could be dangerous."

"Did you see how scared she looked? She didn't mean to do any of this."

"That's what I'm worried about. She's scared, and if her magic is anything like yours that's why she's having trouble controlling it. She could be dangerous, even if she doesn't want to be."

"If her magic is like mine maybe I can help. I need to do this."

"I know... just please be careful."

"I will."

Emma and Snow rejoined David and Anna as a servant led two horses to them. Anna mounted her horse Kjekk and turned to address the gathered crowd. "I leave King David and Queen Snow in charge!" With that the two princesses set off towards the North Mountain.

* * *

Anna and Emma knew they were in the right place when they arrived outside a magnificent ice castle. They both dismounted and made their way carefully up the staircase leading to the front door of the palace. Anna hesitated for a long moment before knocking on the door, which opened as if on it's own. Anna jumped back slightly in surprise. "It opened... that's a first."

Anna led the way into the castle with Emma close behind. "Elsa! It's me, Anna!"

"Anna." Elsa appeared at the top of another icy staircase. She wasn't wearing her crown, and more strikingly the dress she had worn at her coronation had been replaced by a beautiful blue dress made entirely out of ice. Elsa paused at the top of the stairs when she saw that Anna wasn't alone. "Princess Emma."

Emma bowed her head. "Queen Elsa. If I may say so, this place is... it's amazing. Did you do all this today?"

Elsa blushed. "I did. I'm glad you like it," She turned her attention to Anna, "but you should both go... please."

"We just got here," Anna said.

"You belong back in Arendelle."

"So do you."

"No, Anna, I belong here... alone, where I can be who I am without hurting anybody. Arendelle deserves better than a monster on the throne."

Before Anna could respond, Emma cut in. "Your Majesty, you're no monster."

Elsa laughed bitterly. "Princess Emma, you just met me at my coronation. You don't know a thing about what I am."

"I know more than you think. I've met plenty of monsters in my life, cruel men obsessed with power, and I can tell that you're nothing like them. You know what I saw when you ran away from your coronation? I saw fear, and not fear for your own safety, fear for the safety of your sister, of your people. I saw a woman who would live up here on the North Mountain in isolation rather than risk hurting anyone. No monster would make a decision like that.

"Regardless of my intentions, I can't control my curse... I tried for thirteen years to conceal it, but I see now that as long as I'm around other people I'm always going to be a danger."

Emma smiled. "I used to think that way too."

Elsa looked confused for a moment, then her eyes widened in realization. "You mean... you have magic like me?"

"Not exactly like you." Emma held out her hand in front of her. Her open palm glowed brightly, and when she raised her hand above her head the light shot skyward, erupting in an array of colors that reminded Elsa of something Anna said when they were kids. ' _The sky's awake, so I'm awake, so we have to play'._

"That's... that's incredible," Elsa finally said. "I thought I was the only person in the world with magic."

"Hardly, though magic is much more common in Misthaven than it is in Arendelle,. Still, I've never met anyone with ice magic before. Yours is a very unique gift, Queen Elsa."

"So... how did you learn to control it?"

Emma smiled, and said simply, "Love."

"Love? I'm sorry, but if it were that simple I would have learned to control my magic years ago."

"You stayed away from your sister because you love her and you feared hurting her. You love your sister and your kingdom, but you also have to love yourself, and your magic. As long as you fear your magic it will control you instead of the other way around."

"That worked for you," Elsa said hesitantly, "but what if my magic works differently? What if I go back to Arendelle and make things worse? What if I freeze the kingdom?"

Anna winced. "Actually, about that... you kind of already did freeze the kingdom." Seeing the panicked look on her sister's face, Anna hurriedly continued. "It's fine, I mean nobody got hurt. It's just snow, and you can fix it, I know you can."

Elsa nodded, a genuine smile forming on her face as she made her way down the stairs to join Anna and Emma. "Thank you... both of you."

Before either of the princesses could respond there was another knock on the door, a quiet knock like that of a small child. Elsa hesitated only for a brief moment before waving her hand towards the door, causing it to swing open. Standing in the entryway was a tiny snowman. Anna screamed, hiding behind Elsa as the little snowman ran into the room with a huge grin on his face.

Emma laughed as she knelt down to the snowman's level. "Hey, little guy. What's your name?"

"I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs!"

"I'm Emma." She threw her arms around the tiny snowman.

Anna's eyes lit up with recognition. "Wait, you're Olaf?"

Olaf pulled away from Emma and looked at Anna with that same huge grin. "Yeah, why?"

"Did Elsa build you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"And... you're alive?"

That caused him to pause. "Um... yeah, I think so... why?"

Anna turned to Elsa, a huge smile on her face. "Elsa, this is amazing! He's just like the one we built as kids, and he's alive!"

Elsa looked stunned. "I didn't even know I brought him to life. I didn't know I could do anything like that."

Emma stood up and turned to Elsa. "Do you think you could do it again?"

* * *

A short time later the four were riding back into Arendelle, Anna and Emma on the horses they rode up the mountain on and Elsa and Olaf on a horse made entirely out of ice. They were met in the castle courtyard by King David and Queen Snow. Elsa dismounted her horse and approached the couple. "King David, Queen Snow, I apologize for all the trouble I caused, and I thank you for watching over Arendelle while I was away."

King David smiled. "You have nothing to apologize for, Majesty, and it was our pleasure."

Anna approached Elsa, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Looks like there's just one thing left to do." Elsa smiled and raised her hands into the air. Slowly the snow stopped falling, and the snow on the ground began rising into the air, gathering towards a single point, a giant snowflake. When all the snow was gone from the ground, Elsa dissipated the snowflake with a wave of her arms.

Elsa's smile faded as she turned her attention to Olaf and her horse, who were both melting in the sun. With a wave of her hands she gave each of them a personal flurry to keep them alive.

Meanwhile, Anna was looking around the courtyard at the gathering crowd. "King David, where is Hans?"

David and Snow exchanged a sad look before David responded. "Your Highness, Prince Hans was caught conspiring against your sister with the Duke of Weselton."

Anna was momentarily too stunned to speak. Elsa ran to support her, helping her inside with an arm around her shoulder. She turned to David. "Maybe we should discuss this somewhere more private. He nodded as he, Snow, and Emma followed the sisters into the castle and to the library. David locked the door behind them while Elsa helped Anna to a couch.

When Anna finally spoke up her voice came in a hoarse whisper. "Hans was conspiring against Elsa? Could you elaborate?"

David sat down beside the sisters. "You are aware that Hans is the youngest of thirteen, correct? It seems that since he knew he would never be king in the Southern Isles he came to Arendelle intending to marry into the royal family then... create an accident for the queen, making himself king."

Elsa looked sick. "How did you learn of this, King David? Surely Hans didn't just announce his plans to anyone who would listen."

"No," said David, "just the Duke. Before she left to find you, Princess Anna ordered the castle guards to keep an eye on the Duke, as she suspected he meant you harm. Had Hans not allied himself with the Duke, or had the Duke been a more subtle man, we might not have discovered his plot so quickly."

Anna's shock quickly turned to anger. There was a dangerous look in her eyes as she stood to her feet. "Where is he?"

"He's in the castle dungeon," Snow replied.

Before anyone could say another word Anna was halfway out the door. Elsa grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around to face her. Elsa's heart broke at the sight of Anna, angry tears streaming down her face.

"Let me go," Anna said.

"No, I'm not going to let you do something you'll regret."

Anna's anger gave way to more tears as she buried her head in Elsa's shoulder. "Elsa, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you at your coronation. I should have listened to you about Hans."

"It's okay, Anna. You couldn't have known what he was planning."

"But you were right, and you were just trying to stop me from doing something I would regret. You were trying to help, but I was so desperate to be loved that I only thought about myself." Anna clamped a hand over her mouth as she saw the hurt in her sister's eyes at what she had said. "Elsa, I didn't mean..."

"No, you're right, you were desperate for love because I shut you out for all those years. You probably thought I didn't love you anymore, and I can never apologize enough for making you feel that way."

Anna smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I did think that for a while, but now I know you only stayed away to protect me."

"Well all that's over now, and I promise I'll never shut you out again."


End file.
